To listen to our fascinating interview with Helen on the Astrology of 2012 then please use the audio player above. This interview will also be available on YouTube in the coming days.

Hello and welcome to the Spirit Guides.co.uk Network Radio Show, with your host, Mark Chatterton. We are pleased to welcome onto the show today, Helen Sewell. Helen is a professional astrologer in private practice, who has been practicing astrology for over 25 years and has a Diploma in Psychological Astrology. Helen gives consultations to individuals couples and businesses and is also a relationship counselor for the organisation Relate. So a warm welcome to you Helen.

Questions

What do you actually do as an astrologer?

You call yourself a psychological astrologer. How does Psychology affect the readings that you give?

I know that astrology is an ancient subject. How far back does it actually go?
I know on your website that you cast a horoscope for England in 2012, back in 2008. Is there anything on it that you think we should be taking note of?

What do you see as happening during the Olympics?

I know there’s a lot of anticipation for this year and in particular for 21st December, but what about beyond this? Some commentators on the future reckon that there will be a golden age from 2032 onwards. Have you come across this and indeed could you cast a horoscope that far ahead?

The 2012 phenomenon was first brought to my attention when Geoff Stray asked if I could see any significance in the astrological chart of 21st December 2012.

Researching the astrology of 2012 has taken me on quite a journey and led me along many interesting and diverse paths, and I would like to share with you my discoveries on one of these tributaries that has proven to be of particular interest to me: the astrological significance of 2012 for the UK, England especially. This ancient land and culture is very unique and special in many ways and it is regarded by many people as the ‘heart chakra’ of the world. We are also blessed for some reason with the majority of the crop circles that appear in the world, as if our consciousness is somehow more tuned in to this type of symbolism, wherever it may come from. I also think there is some significance to the fact that the English language is so widely used around the world.

It is never easy to convey astrological concepts to the layperson without using the jargon that astrologers bandy about like a foreign language. However, I will endeavour to describe them in the most accessible terms.

The Astrological Chart of England
As a background, I will first give a brief description of the astrological chart that I use for England (and, by default, the UK) - the crowning of William the Conqueror at Midday on 25th December 1066 (I shall expand on my reasons for using this particular chart later). Countries have horoscopes that can be interpreted just the same as one would for a person. In fact, a chart can be cast for anything that has a ‘birth’, and it will embody the qualities of that moment in time. As the planets continue on their cycles through the heavens, they form new aspects (astrologically meaningful positions) to the planets on the birth chart, and it is through the transits between them that astrologers glean clues and indications as to the type of energy that is around and the possible events that can then manifest as a result. Astrology is therefore a very powerful tool, as the ancients knew only too well. I cannot say that the transits of the planets actually cause things here on earth, but statistical analysis shows there is a clear correlation of transits with types of events and there is certainly something strangely synchronistic that happens. As the old saying goes: ‘As above, so below’.

If I give you an interpretation of some of the planetary energies which were around when William the Conqueror was crowned (see Fig. 1), you may be able to recognise some of our more obvious national traits. Countries do seem to have ‘personalities’, and it is quite fun to see how the national characteristics of a country can so easily be recognised from their horoscope. This is why we as a nation are so different from, say, Italy.

England as we know it now was effectively ‘born’ when the Sun was in the stable earth sign of Capricorn. The quality of earth is to move and change very slowly and it has a liking for things that have a lasting value. We are conservative as a nation and therefore like to preserve our traditions, a good example being the monarchy. Indeed, the character traits of Queen Victoria and our current Queen Elizabeth embody the qualities of loyalty and devoted service to duty that is reflected in our nation. As a people, we are stoic and often like to be seen as respectable, responsible and reserved to the point of the ‘stiff upper lip’. We like to grumble and moan (embodied by such characters as Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh, and Puddleglum in the Narnia books) and can be quite melancholic, sometimes taking life too seriously. We err on the side of cynicism and it is difficult to pull the wool over our eyes. However, this is wonderfully offset by our ironic and very dry sense of humour. A personality such as characters played by John Cleese is indicative of the sort of caricatured Englishman that could be recognised around the world as someone typically British.

The chart some astrologers use for England and/or the United Kingdom is the Union of Great Britain with Ireland on 1 January 1801. Fascinatingly enough, the Sun is in Capricorn at virtually the same degree as the 1066 chart and Pluto has also returned to the same position. There are many similarities in these two charts and therefore the significant transits occurring in 2012 will have similar affects, whichever chart is used. The reason I use the chart for 1066 is because England changed so dramatically after the invasion of William the Conqueror. He brought with him the birth of a new and more cohesive nation, with Norman culture indelibly sweeping aside much of what had gone before, and since this time (not withstanding events such as the Civil War of the 1640s, in which Charles I was executed) there has been a virtually unbroken line of kings and queens. It is also the date that most people remember as the birth of modern English history, far more so than the 1801 chart. The fact that it is so entrenched in the national psyche automatically gives it psychological significance on a collective level.

I am sure that in the past astrologers would have been consulted about the best times for auspicious state occasions such as coronations, and it is probable that kings would be crowned at midday, because the Sun would then be at the zenith of the sky and therefore in the tenth ‘house’ of the horoscope. This is the house associated with public standing and our status in the world, and it is therefore a very powerful placing in the chart, whether it be for a person or a nation.

The fiery sign of Aries was the sign coming up over the horizon at the moment of William’s coronation, and therefore this is known as the ‘Ascendant’, or rising sign. Aries is ruled by Mars, the god of war, who embodies the dynamic masculine principle of action and desire. Aries rising likes to be a leader and is not content to sit back and be a spectator. He is fearless and likes a conquest. The spirit of Jason and the Argonauts would be typical of this sign. So, with the combination of Capricorn’s urge to build something solid and lasting, together with the Aries urge to conquer, we created our Empire.

You will observe that the Moon in the chart is in the sensitive, watery sign of Pisces, and this helps to soften the harder aspects of Capricorn and Aries. I see this reflected in our Welfare State and the NHS. The Moon also resides in the twelfth house, which rules institutions and, more esoterically, spirituality, music, poetry and the arts, the collective unconscious and hidden enemies. With Pisces being the last of the Zodiac signs, and the twelfth house being the last house, the position of the Moon signifies a greater connection with the numinous and our ultimate return to the source, before the whole cycle starts again with Aries. Our caring and generous national spirit can also be glimpsed in the hosting of events such as Live Aid, and people often talk of how collectively caring we are for each other in crises, as was demonstrated in the Blitz. However, just like a person, a nation has a shadowy side and this I see in the Moon, tucked away in the hidden twelfth house. This side of our character can be witnessed in our desire to escape from our personal responsibilities and be looked after by the ‘Nanny State’. This placement, I have to say, is also representative of our nation’s drinking habits, teenage pregnancies, and our recent appearance at the bottom of the UNICEF league table for child care!

There is a wealth of information in this chart, but as that is a whole essay on its own, the final observation I would like to make here about our nation’s chart is that the Moon is in a very dynamic aspect with the maverick of the solar system, Uranus, and also with Chiron (an astrologically important asteroid with an eccentric orbit), known in myth as the wounded healer. This aspect is what gives us our slightly eccentric nature and produces the classic ‘mad inventor’ types. We can sometimes unexpectedly act out of character and get to produce programmes like Monty Python, and tend to be at the forefront of contemporary music with our originality and trend setting. It doesn’t, however, make for a very cuddly Moon, and this can be witnessed in our attitude towards children – the classic ‘children should be seen and not heard’, as illustrated by how unwelcoming we can be to families in pubs and restaurants. There is definitely something rather detached about our emotional life.

The Chart of 2012
Moving on, then, to explore the chart of 2012, let us see what insights this chart can bring us.

I was very excited when I discovered that the time of the 2012 winter solstice was 11:11 Universal Time (see Fig. 2). I have been following the 11:11 phenomenon since the early 90s, and am hoping very much that the evolution of consciousness promised by its devotees will indeed take place! There is a wealth of information on the significance of the numbers 11:11 on the internet but, in a nutshell, much of the material comes from the channelled messages of the US medium Solara, and the underlying theme is that we are moving away from duality to oneness. This development is a global phenomenon, which began in 1992. The channellings state that eleven ‘doorways’ will open (the first one opened on 11th January 1992, and the last one will open on 11th November 2011), and with each opening there will be a shift in our consciousness.

At this moment of 11:11 on 21st December 2012, the Sun will have just entered Capricorn and the tenth house and this, I feel, is particularly significant. Capricorn is the last of the earth signs, and if we think of the evolution through the signs, arrival here is when we should have reached the greatest understanding of this earthly plane and physical reality. In Geoff Stray’s book, Beyond 2012, he writes extensively about the possible spiritual and esoteric changes that could take place at this time, so if there is one astrological sign in which to have an actual manifestation of an event, it would be very fitting for it to take place in Capricorn. It is entirely appropriate, for instance, that – symbolically (i.e. given the date we choose to celebrate it) - Jesus was born under this sign. This speaks to me of the actual physical incarnation of the godhead. It is worth contemplating the meaning of the glyph for Capricorn, a creature half-goat, half-fish, as the coming together of spirit and matter.

Capricorn is an earth sign and therefore all things associated with the earth will automatically come into focus, and issues with an ‘earth theme’ will assume greater importance. Therefore an increase in earth changes and natural disasters may very well manifest, not just while the Sun is in Capricorn, but especially with Pluto, the planet of death and transformation, transiting through Capricorn from 2008-2024. We are also likely to see the whole ‘green’ movement escalate dramatically over this period, with the politicisation of issues such as climate change and global food production.

We can see that Neptune has just moved back into its own sign of Pisces in 2012 (each sign has a ‘ruling planet’, and Neptune rules Pisces), after its 165-year cycle. Neptune is associated with the numinous – all those intangible things, such as the arts and music. Neptune signifies how we seek redemption, and gives a deep longing to return to that pre-birth experience of being merged with ‘the source’.

All planets have a dark and a light side, and the problem with sensitive Neptune is when it finds it too difficult to cope with the harsh reality of life and all its mundane responsibilities; then it often becomes victim-like or wants to escape into fantasy or altered states of consciousness, to get back to the feeling of that pre-incarnated state. We also have to be very careful of delusion, deception and confusion when it is so powerfully placed on the Ascendant of the chart.

Neptune spends approximately fourteen years in each sign, and at the moment it is in the airy sign of Aquarius. To give an example of Neptune’s influence on the world during this current period, it is interesting to observe how we have been seeking that feeling of oneness with others through the cool detachment of Aquarian technology – the internet and mobile phones in particular. We can be in the remotest parts of the world and yet still feel connected to others.

In 2012, when Neptune enters Pisces, we will then be seeking redemption through the arts, spirituality, victim/saviour situations, relationship, and selfless service. There may well also be the strong urge to transcend our physical reality. In fact I have a fantasy that we will no longer need to use Aquarian technology to feel connected to each other (that is too rational and emotionally removed for watery Pisces), but rather we will just naturally develop our psychic abilities. Pisces needs to feel really merged with another, and because Neptune is associated with telepathy this could well be a faculty we all develop strongly over the subsequent fourteen years. The last time Neptune was in Pisces there was a huge resurgence in spiritualism, hypnotism, and the occult in general.

The next interesting point I would like to draw attention to is the Yod, or ‘Finger of God’, which is quite a rare configuration and is marked by the green triangle between Saturn, Pluto and Jupiter. This again emphasises the spiritual side of this chart. At the apex is Jupiter, which is associated with spiritual growth and the expansion of our boundaries. (Perhaps what is also worth pointing out here is that Jupiter is more frequently found to be prominently placed in death charts than Pluto, which is normally associated with death, hinting at expansion literally out of our physical bodies.) Jupiter is the big gas giant of the solar system and whatever it touches it expands that principle. Astrologically, Jupiter the god imbues hope and optimism and the desire to become more than what we are. He gives meaning to our lives and a vision of the potential for a better future. Jupiter is in the sign of Gemini in the third house and both are associated with communication, the acquisition of knowledge and broadening of our minds. Although I believe the 2012 effects may be more gradual than some are anticipating, Jupiter is nonetheless very appropriately placed if, as some people believe, we are to witness a dramatic shift in consciousness taking place on this actual day.

The aspects to Jupiter from the two heavyweights in the Zodiac – Saturn and Pluto – give the whole thing gravitas. Pluto contributes a feeling of deep and permanent transformation, and Saturn brings a seriousness and reality to it. However, because of the nature of these planets, it does not suggest the transition will be easy.

So far I have been quite positive about the potentials in this chart, given the fact that there are some of the most advantageous positions and aspects of the planets for the possible and much-anticipated shift in consciousness and spiritual enlightenment. However, there is also something far more sinister gathering momentum, which peaks in 2012, and it is this that potentially paints quite a different picture. In fact, I consider this particular aspect could well be the overriding feature of the year and it will without a doubt be difficult to navigate.

Throughout the whole of 2012 there will be a very volatile 90 degree configuration in the heavens between the planets Uranus and Pluto. These two planets aren’t like the personal inner planets, the energies of which are much easier to integrate and deal with. Instead, they weald the powerful archetypal forces of the transpersonal planets, which bring about massive and permanent changes in the collective, and sometimes manifest as catastrophic natural disasters. It might be helpful to look into the meaning of these two planets, and what was happening in the world at the time they were each discovered – always a key feature of the astrological significance applied to them.

Uranus
Uranus, the planet which rules Aquarius, is the idealistic sky god, always trying to create the Utopian dream – the perfect system that exists on a mind level – and if that means shattering the status quo to obtain it, it will do so whatever the cost. He wants the perfect Universe, with all things equal - but his actions are often unpredictable, unconventional and shocking.

Uranus was accidentally discovered by William Herschel in 1781. Two revolutions occurred in the late 1700s – the American and the French – and the French battle cry of ‘Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death!’ totally encapsulates the Uranian spirit coming through into our consciousness at this time. Uranus brings sudden enlightenment, a bit like when we suddenly get those ‘Eureka’ moments, so you can perhaps see how it is also connected to electricity, which was first being properly researched around this time.

In myth, Uranus mated with the great earth goddess, Gaia, and because his offspring did not meet with his vision of perfection, he could not bear to set eyes on them, and buried them deep in the earth. Uranian ideals often come at a high price because, though fair and humanitarian, he is a sky god and detached from human emotion. Think how many people throughout history have perished in the name of an ideal.

Currently, airy Uranus is transiting through the watery sign of Pisces and this ordered god is, I think, struggling with the Piscean lack of clear-cut boundaries, facts and a logical systems. Uranus constantly seeks answers through the clear intellect of the mind, and emotional Pisces rules mystery and illusion. It is a bit like driving a car along in thick fog – if we put on the full beam (Uranian light) in the hope of seeing better, we find it makes things even more unclear! We can see it everywhere at the moment, especially in the conspiracy theory world, which has mushroomed all the while Uranus has been in Pisces. The urge is so strong in us under this transit to try and seek that ‘Uranian truth’ that we are sure must be there, but I doubt that is entirely possible in this current Piscean world of smoke and mirrors, with its propensity for deception and lies, fantasy and self-delusion. [This aspect is made doubly strong, as Neptune (the planet which rules the sign of Pisces) is in Aquarius (the sign normally ruled by Uranus) - a phenomenon known as Mutual Reception. Neptune has been in Aquarius since 1998 and enters Pisces in 2011] When Uranus moves out of Pisces into Aries in 2010, the fog will lift and there will be much more clarity and action.

Pluto
Pluto is regarded astrologically as the most powerful planet in the solar system. He rules such fundamental themes as birth, death, sex, and transformation. He is also the planet of evolution and the bigger cycles in history, and if pushing those cycles means the annihilation of a species then, in Pluto’s eyes, so be it. In our psyche, he rules our dark primitive instinctual nature – our raw unsophisticated emotions that lurk in the shadow. When they erupt they threaten to overpower us. Pluto also rules the occult and all things hidden and shadowy in society. I think the reason we fear Pluto so much is because its potential for creation, death and destruction is very great. It requires an incredible degree of consciousness to use this kind of power constructively for good and not evil.

When Pluto was discovered in 1930, the world was in crisis. The Pluto energy can best be seen in the rise of the Third Reich. This sadly, but graphically, shows how the abuse of this kind of energy can be used in its most destructive and devastating form. Also at that time, however, we saw a much more positive manifestation of its potential through the work of Sigmund Freud and Carl Jung and the birth of depth psychology with the understanding of the complexities of the unconscious mind.

In myth, when Jupiter had overthrown his father, Saturn, and was dividing up the spoils, he gave Neptune the rivers and seas and he gave Pluto the Underworld. This was not, however, the lesser inheritance, because Pluto’s laws were final and nobody (not even a god) was allowed into his kingdom without irreversible change through death and without paying his due to Charon, the boatman who ferried souls across the River Styx. In the Underworld lay the greatest treasure, and this is symbolic of the therapeutic process of transforming our darkest sides into something constructive and creative. Shining the light of consciousness onto those shadowy areas is like finding the ‘treasure’ of freedom from our complexes, ultimately gaining enlightenment.

Pluto has been transiting through the sign of Sagittarius since 1995 and will not leave entirely until the end of 2008. Sagittarius is the sign associated with religion, philosophy, higher learning and the ‘bigger picture’. It is a fiery sign, full of potential and the desire to make an optimistic journey into the future. However, with Pluto, the dark lord of the Underworld, passing through it the future no longer looks so bright. The ‘devil’, in whatever guise, now seems even bigger, scarier and darker, and holds more potential to overpower and control us.

This placement could be interpreted as the death of religion in its current form, and has certainly contributed to the chaos and strife we are now experiencing. Archetypally, death has always been seen as something to be feared and the religious fundamentalists do not want to face any prospect of change which might threaten their power. They are literally fighting to the death to preserve their own particular faith.

This theme is also accentuated by the fact that we are currently in a transition seeing the death of the Age of Pisces and the birth of the Age of Aquarius. Each Age has gods and religions which reflect the symbolism of that particular sign of the Zodiac, and maybe the Piscean religions of the past 2000 years are now in their death throes. However, until they are replaced, there is a certain amount of collective fear and trepidation in not knowing what is coming next. (Part One of the highly recommended film Zeitgeist makes further reference to this.)

With Sagittarius, everything is exaggerated and of epic proportions, and is reflected in the films of this time, such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Narnia movies, which pick up on the theme of the Age: the large-scale battle of good against evil.

On a very literal level, another example of Pluto (ruling sex and hidden things) passing through Sagittarius (ruling religion) is that we have had the whole issue come to light in the Catholic church of children being sexually abused, with cover-ups now being exposed.

Uranus and Pluto – An Explosive Combination
Bearing in mind the nature of Uranus and Pluto, you can imagine the cocktail when these two planets get together in a dynamic aspect. If we look back in history at the Uranus/Pluto cycle, this particular one started with a conjunction of the two in Virgo in the mid 1960s. The conjunction of two planets is like seed-planting time, when their conglomerate energies collide like nuclear fusion and new things are born. Looking at what was going on at this time gives us clues as to the potential of these seeds for both good and ill as the cycle matures. In the mid 1960s there was huge rebellion against the establishment, seen in such examples as the American student riots against the Vietnam war, and the Cultural Revolution in China. It was a time of experimentation with psychedelic drugs, the ‘sexual revolution’ (Pluto ruling sex and Uranus ruling revolution), and various rebellions against the social norms of the time as an attempt to ‘break out’ of restricting, outmoded ways of being.

In 2012, Uranus and Pluto are going to come into their first really challenging aspect to each other since the 1960s and this will create a build up of an incredible pressure - of volcanic proportions. The tension between the two forces could detonate revolution and rebellion (even earthquakes, on a physical level), and could bring crashing down what we thought were established political structures. This will be especially so, because Uranus will be in the war-like sign of Aries, and Pluto will be in Capricorn, which represents authority, the establishment, political structures and governments.

My vision of one of the possible outcomes of the ‘clash of the Titans’ is this: Our freedoms are gradually and perniciously being eroded away at the moment and, with Pluto having just moved into Capricorn in January 2008, governmental control may well become more extreme. Uranus, particularly when it moves into Aries in 2010, will no longer be able to tolerate its freedoms being curtailed and will revolt in a possibly very sudden and violent way.

Figure 3. England and the Transits of the 21st December 2012

The Charts of England and 2012 Combined
In Fig. 3 we see the chart of the England on the inside and the chart of 21st December 2012 on the outside. This then allows us to see if the transits of the planets in 2012 are making any significant angles or conjunctions to any of the important points in England’s chart. (This technique is exactly the same as when a person comes to an astrologer for a reading to see which planetary influences are reflecting what is going on in their lives.)

From this combination, I notice - with some trepidation – that Pluto is, extremely significantly, exactly on England’s Midheaven and Sun, while also squaring Uranus in the twelfth house of the collective. So all that energy for revolutionary change will be focusing on our national identity in the world. The twelfth house is also about hidden enemies and the ‘rebel’ could well emerge suddenly from quite an unexpected source to rise up against Pluto’s power and control, with very serious consequences indeed.

The reason for the rebellion, of course, may also come from different groups (Uranus rules groups and societies) with their own particular agendas, as it seems to me people on the whole are often quite reluctant to act unless they are affected personally. Interestingly, the Uranus/Pluto cycle is also connected to the slave trade, and in lots of ways we have a new kind of slavery today – debt, which begins as soon as a student leaves school and takes out a loan for their further education, and is then gradually replaced or added to by high-payment mortgages and other loans, which ensure we are kept enslaved to the financial system.

The whole religious issue, which has effectively dominated global politics and the ‘War on Terror’ for the last decade, is also not going to go away overnight and may well escalate to an Armageddon-type situation. When planets transit through Sagittarius, as Pluto has been doing, it tends to be in the realm of philosophical thought and the potential of something - it is only when it enters the sign of Capricorn that those ideas are then materialised. There is currently quite a bit in the media about believers in ‘End Times’, highlighting how an awful lot of people are trying their hardest to make this rather frightening day-of-judgment scenario a reality.

Pluto on the Midheaven of England’s chart will certainly bring power to our nation, and seeing this makes me understand why England, in a strangely fated way, won the bid for the 2012 Olympic Games when it seemed so against the odds. When a person has a Pluto transit like this, they often come into their power and are thrust into the limelight; a good example of this was when Margaret Thatcher came to power. So it is interesting that all the world’s eyes will be on England in the summer of 2012.

Mentioning Prime Ministers, I believe that David Cameron could well be the person in power in 2012, because he was born under the conjunction of Uranus/Pluto in 1966 and will be so very familiar with these energies. Potentially, he could be the one to best steer the nation through its transition.

9/11: An Example of Pluto in Action
To demonstrate the sort of effects a Pluto transit can have when it hits a sensitive spot on a country’s chart, I refer you to Fig. 4, the chart of the USA (shown on the inside) seen with the transits of the planets at the moment of the first attack on the World Trade Centre on 9/11 (shown on the outside). At this time Pluto had arrived right on the Ascendant of America’s chart and this can literally be interpreted as the dark lord of the Underworld, bringing death and destruction to the face of America. Astrology can sometimes be incredibly literal in its symbolism, as is demonstrated by the fact that Pluto was opposite Saturn in Gemini in the heavens at this time: Saturn represents physical structures (think of the World Trade Centre buildings themselves) and rules such things as financial institutions, status and authority; and Mercurial Gemini (just look at the glyph for Gemini!) represents commerce and trade. Indeed, the World Trade Centre was the centre for world capitalism. Pluto opposite Saturn does not necessarily have to wreak such catastrophic havoc, but, as I indicated earlier, it does require an enormous amount of consciousness to deal with this type of energy.

Figure 4. The USA and the First Attack on the World Trade Centre

Pluto transits are all about the use and abuse of power and control, often through fear (whether we own that power and use it well, or whether we feel utterly powerless and at the mercy of our fears, or controlled by others). 9/11 could have been a wonderful opportunity for America to look at its own dark side and how it wields its power and control over other nations. The interpretation would work exactly the same if this were a person; if we do not recognise our own dark side we can be quite sure we’ll meet it (often rather unpleasantly) in an external form. America projected its own darkness out onto Al Qaeda rather than battling its own demons much closer to home. And, of course with Pluto being representative of hidden things, the growing numbers of people who believe the attacks could not have happened without inside US help may also have something to say about this. The amount of control the US government has now been able to exert over its people – with knock-on effects around the world – in the name of ‘fighting terror’ and securing the nation leaves an uncomfortable taste in the mouths of some.

We can use Pluto’s potency for powerful transformation and to change ourselves for the better, or we can choose to only see the ‘bad’ in others and demonise them. America wants us to believe it is the ‘Land of the Free’ - democratic and fair - and that all the opposite traits reside in the enemy ‘out there’. Sadly, we can only use our imaginations to picture a different and more consciousness-raising scenario than the one that actually did occur in the wake of 9/11, perhaps one with America taking a brutal look at its own foreign policy, seeing where there could be fundamental changes made for the good of the world, and implementing them. This is perhaps a naïve hope, considering where we are in reality in the evolution of consciousness. Sometimes, therefore, maybe we do unfortunately have to suffer catastrophic and painful events as a wake-up call and to force the creation of a new consciousness. Sometimes in our own personal lives we experience challenging crises, but it is those who do not take the stance of being just an innocent victim and instead look at the situation as an opportunity for self-awareness and growth through examining their own part that are the ones who become more enlightened, wiser and mature.

2012 Hotspot
I decided to scan the whole year of 2012 astrologically to see when would be the most dangerous hotspots, and it would appear that June is the most tension-ridden month of the year (see Fig. 5). Here I have put the June Full Moon chart around the chart of the UK, because Full Moons and New Moons heighten whatever tensions are in the air, and often cause a physical manifestation of an event. What makes it so potentially explosive is that Mars, the god of war, is now thrown into the equation by landing exactly on the nation’s Saturn, representing our stability, structure, and also our defences, and being at the apex of the T-square (90 degrees) with the Sun/Moon opposition. Incidentally, the London bombings on 7 July 2005 were on the New Moon, which was similarly in a square (90 degrees) aspect to Mars. So this is again a graphic example of the type of aggressive act that can be perpetrated under such an aspect.

Figure 5. The UK and the June Full Moon 2012

Opportunities for Growth
With the Uranus/Pluto square in 2012 there will again be another opportunity for growth. How painful or traumatic this process will prove to be depends so much on what happens between now and 2012. In lots of ways we are already experiencing the affects associated with the whole 2012 phenomenon. When I look around me, I see people struggling enormously with difficult issues that seem to be coming up thick and fast for them, as if on some level we are tuning into the urgency of having to wake up to a new way of being. It is up to us how we embrace those challenges, but I do not believe there are any fast-track methods to enlightenment. It may be easier for some, but for most of us it is a long and painful process involving deep inner work and soul searching. I would like to think we could reach the consciousness necessary for a positive change, but that could be a tall order for people to gain the kind of self-awareness necessary before 2012.

However, many people do believe we could get a helping hand in this regard. The Sun will be exactly positioned at ‘Galactic Centre’ in 2012 and some believe we will then be more open to the energies of pulsing galactic super-waves (see other articles on the Diagnosis 2012 website, and in Geoff Stray’s Beyond 2012). This may activate our pineal gland, which could, in turn, raise our vibrational frequencies to much higher levels - and possibly take us into new dimensions altogether.

Uranus is associated with the myth of Prometheus, who had a special affinity with mankind because he made them from the dirt under his fingernails and his own tears. Zeus did not want mankind to become enlightened through having fire, because then they would achieve a godlike status and that was threatening to him. However, Prometheus disobeyed Zeus and though he knew the price would be high, he stole fire from the smith-god Hephaistos and gave it to mankind, thus bringing them the light of consciousness. Zeus severely punished Prometheus by chaining him up in the Caucasus mountains. Each day an eagle came down and pecked out his liver, and each night it grew back in an endless suffering. To me this is analogous with how those people who try to tear down the veils of hypocrisy, deception and lies in search of the truth, in the hope of illuminating mankind, are being ‘punished’. But sometimes this is the sort of sacrifice that has to be undertaken for the good of mankind. At least after thirty years (though some say 30,000 years!) Prometheus was finally released from his suffering.

The best thing we can do is to work on ourselves to improve our own personal integrity, honesty, discernment and, most of all with Uranus in Pisces, compassion for each other in this struggle. Then, and only then, can we gain the wisdom necessary to be an example to the rest of society, and especially to our children. The more people who can do this, the more it will become mainstream, eventually creating a radical shift in the collective consciousness of mankind.

Conclusions and Solutions
Lastly, I would like to draw on myth again to try and help give us some clues for a way forward in all this. When Gaia (Mother Earth) wearied of Uranus being repulsed by their offspring and consequently burying them, she employed her son, Saturn, to castrate him as he slept. When he carried Uranus’ severed bleeding genitals down to the shore and cast them into the sea, he inadvertently fertilised the ocean. Thus, up rose Venus (or Aphrodite) – the goddess of love – out of the foaming brine.

This would suggest to me that we have to accept we live in an imperfect world and that the Uranian vision of perfection, as seen through the cool unfeeling eyes of masculine logic, has to be balanced by Gaia’s earth wisdom - otherwise the darker side of the feminine will rise up and brutally retaliate. It is interesting to me that it is Venus who is the end product of this story, insinuating that it is indeed love that offers the resolution in the end. It is worth noting how there could be dire consequences by neglecting the feminine archetype in all our hopes and fears for what 2012 might bring, and both men and women would do well to heed this.

It is said that there were only two things the gods required from mankind - and these are inscribed above the temple at Delphi. The first is ‘Man know thyself’, and the second is ‘Nothing in excess’. I leave it to you to contemplate how well you think we have fared in this regard since those ancient times!